


Happy Endings

by pleasereadmeok



Category: The Good Wife (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-17 22:55:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4684370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasereadmeok/pseuds/pleasereadmeok
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Um.  Look.  I … think I need to go.”  He shifted in his seat. But then she smiled – sure of herself again.<br/>“Maybe you should.  5 minutes more and I might have to marry you.”<br/>He choked on his drink with laughter.  “Yes you might.” </p>
<p>This takes up Finn's story immediately after he says "Bye" to Alicia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Endings

**Author's Note:**

> I may be a romantic sometimes but time to get real. Finn isn’t going to end up with Alicia – he’s going to be with his wife. So I thought about what his wife might be like, the type of woman that I would like him to end up with, and this woman emerged. She is not quite what I expected. She is so different to Alicia AND Finn. She is still called Lizzie – mainly because I have no imagination.
> 
> If you love Alicia (as I did when she was in Finn’s company) you won’t find her in this except as a bit part. But if you loved Finn then this might give you a form of 'closure' as it did for me. Sadly I doubt I will have many readers but I loved creating a happy ever after for Finn.
> 
> This jumps about in time frame quite a bit – still not sure I’ve made it clear enough – but I tried.
> 
> **Warning:** This story contains a scene that includes a traumatic miscarriage of a baby.

_‘Found them!’_ The text came as Finn was leaving Alicia’s apartment. He smiled and then laughed out loud when he saw the picture. Lizzie, naked, except for his glasses. He called her back.  
“I need to lose my glasses more often! You always look cute in my glasses. Where were they?”  
“Under the bed.”  
“How… well I guess we were in a bit of a rush last night.” He smiled remembering the reason for their hurry and how his glasses were ripped from his face and flung away in their passion.  
“Are you due in court?”  
“Nope. Not ‘til later.”  
“Meetings?”  
“Nope.”  
“Come home and celebrate.”  
“Celebrate what – you finding my glasses?”  
“No – I finally got the Callaghan job. I start on Monday.”  
“Wow! That’s fantastic. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”  


In the cab home Finn’s smile widened as he remembered how his glasses had played a part in how they got together.

\-----------------

Finn had finished work early one Friday and was in a gallery he liked to visit sometimes. The exhibition that week was a collection of detailed drawings of nudes that were so realistic he had the uncomfortable feeling that he was looking at porn. _“Posh porn. You’re looking at posh porn!”_ He smirked. He was peering through his glasses at a particularly graphic drawing when he was aware of someone standing beside him.  
“How can you possibly see _anything_ through those glasses? They’re filthy.”  
He had looked down at the mass of red curls that hovered about a foot below him. Then he saw her eyes – large, green and beautiful.  
“Here. Let me.” The girl gently removed his glasses, breathed on the lenses and used her T shirt to polish them before gently replacing them on his nose. Finn had three thoughts at once – _“She’s beautiful. She’s so young”_ , and _“Fuck she’s not wearing a bra.”_ He quickly looked up from his fleeting glance at the girl’s breasts under her thin T shirt. Too late – she had caught him with a smile. His fourth thought was _“Oh god I’m such a pervert”_.  
“Thank you.” He said, more than a little embarrassed.  
“What for? For cleaning your glasses or letting you stare at my breasts?!”  
“Sorry.” She flashed him a smile and he knew it was OK. 

“Come on. I insist you look at everything again – you’ll actually be able to see things now.” The girl put her small hand in his and led him around the exhibition explaining each picture. “This one is about the futility of it all.” She joked, mocking the explanations she often heard other artists give. He got the joke.  
“That’s a bit dark.”  
“The futility of wearing clothes!”  
“Ah. That makes perfect sense now. You seem to know a lot about the pictures.”  
“Well I should. I did draw them!”  
“Really? Wow you’re very talented.” _“Jeez – she drew the porn!”_ “Which one do you recommend I should buy?”  
“Well I guess it depends what you like…. and what you can afford. Let me think – expensive suit, nice watch, classy shoes – what are you? Banker? Lawyer? Accountant?”  
“Funeral director.”  
“Oh – right – really??” _“She actually believed me!”_  
“No. Lawyer.”  
“Ha ha!” She went straight to a picture. “This one.” A small drawing of a naked woman sprawled on a bed, her eyes beckoning the viewer to come and join her. “It’s a self portrait.”  
“I can see that.”  
“You recognised the hair?”  
“No – the breasts.”  
She laughed hysterically. “You! You’re funny.”  
“Funny ha ha or funny peculiar?”  
“I’m not sure yet – but I’d like to find out.” Finn tried not to react to the obvious ‘come on’.  
“OK then, mark it up as ‘sold’.”  
“You haven’t asked how much it is yet.”  
“How much?”  
“Buy me a drink.”  
Finn looked down at her like a disapproving uncle, “Are you old enough to drink?”

In the bar the girl sat opposite Finn in some sort of cross-legged yoga pose on the bench seat and the sassy banter continued.  
“Are you really old enough to drink? I could get disbarred for giving you alcohol.” He was pretty sure she was – but that was the schtick he was going with.  
She pretended to be offended. “I’m legal.”  
“So. Do you want to be an artist when you grow up?”  
“When I grow up?! I AM grown up. I’m 21. How old are you? No, let me guess. Ancient I suppose. 40 at least.” She was pretty sure he was younger but she was enjoying getting under his skin.  
“Huh? I’m 32!”  
“Really? No I would have thought 40.”  
“Thanks!” He pulled a face.  
“Anyway, to answer to your question, I don’t know yet. Some sort of designer. Interiors maybe.”  
“Curtains and cushions – great.” He said sarcastically with a grimace.  
She rolled her eyes. “Well what would you know about it? You’re a lawyer. What do you want to be when YOU grow up?”  
“An old lawyer.”  
“I thought that’s what you are already. 40 at least.”  
“A better lawyer then.” 

“You’re very well preserved for 40. You’re quite good looking and very sure of yourself.”  
“Well, obviously, being sure of yourself comes with age. So you think I’m good looking – for an old guy?” A satisfied smirk settled on his lips.  
“Maybe.”  
“I was just thinking the same thing about you.” She smiled tentatively and bit her bottom lip. Something they had in common. A sign that maybe she wasn’t so sure of herself. Finn suddenly doubted the propriety of their flirty banter. She was trying to act sassy – but maybe she was getting out of her depth. _“She’s little more than a child.”_ “Um. Look. I … think I need to go.” He shifted in his seat. But then she smiled – sure of herself again.  
“Maybe you should. 5 minutes more and I might have to marry you.”  
He choked on his drink with laughter. “Yes you might.” 

Finn nodded and sniffed. “This feels like it’s getting messy.”  
“I like messy. I’m good at messy.”  
Finn’s turn to bite his lip. His hand went up cover his mouth. He looked at the beautiful girl and he felt like he was drowning in her perfect, almond shaped, green eyes. Life as he knew it was over. Twenty minutes later they had fallen into his bed naked and she was enthusiastically sucking his cock.  
“Are you really legal or am I going to get arrested for sexual abuse of a minor?!”

When they finally took a breath a few hours later Finn formally shook her hand with a wide smile.  
“I’m Finn. Finn Polmar – pleased to meet you.”  
The girl giggled. “Elizabeth Preston. Lizzie. I’m very glad to meet you, _at last_.”  
“At last?”  
“I’ll explain someday.” She settled back down to tracing the muscles in his chest with her fingers. “You hide these well under your boring suit. So ‘Finn’ – Irish?”  
“Mmm.”  
“So we’re both Celts then. My family are Scots.”  
“I should have guessed with the hair.” He coiled a red curl around his fingers. “You look like a wild Scottish maiden.”

Their Friday night together had turned into a whole weekend in bed. At one point Finn had stopped mid’ kiss and sat up abruptly.  
“What day is it?”  
“Saturday.”  
“Shit I’ve got a date!” He reached for his phone. He looked across at Lizzie, the beautiful creature in his bed with her curls tumbling over his sheets. “Am I re-arranging or cancelling?”  
She bit her lip. “Up to you.” Trying to play it cool.  
“Olivia? Hey it’s Finn. Look Liv’ about tonight. I’m really sorry but something’s come up. To be honest, well I’ve met someone.” A question was obviously asked on the other end of the conversation. Finn looked directly at Lizzie, “Yes, I think so.”  
She beamed a smile at him as he gently spoke to a distressed Olivia. Lizzie was sad for her but pleased for herself, she didn’t want this to be over. 

Falling in love with Lizzie was easy. Telling her that he loved her was not. Finn avoided telling her for months, not wanting to scare her away. One night he sat watching her drawing, cross- legged on the floor. She turned her green eyes towards him and started to draw.  
“Oh god – not me again!”  
“You’re the only person I know that will stay still for me.”  
“That’s because I love you.” He had said.  
A smile flickered on her lips. “You took your time. I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.”  
Finn was surprised. “Really?”  
She looked directly at him. “Yes. But of course I’m young and foolish and fall in love all the time.”  
“Ouch. That put me in my place!” 

Before either of them really realised it, Lizzie was living in Finn’s apartment full time.  
“Why don’t we move you in properly?” He had said in bed one night. They moved in her boxes of art equipment and space was made for everything. “What about your clothes? Do you need more of the wardrobe?”  
“I don’t really have many clothes.” She looked down at what she was wearing. “This is pretty much it.”

The women that Finn had dated before seemed to be obsessed with their looks and keeping fit - always at the gym and coming home with new clothes and make up. Lizzie didn’t give a damn. Her style was unconventional but just worked. His previous girlfriends and other women he knew seemed overdressed now compared to Lizzie. She rarely wore make up, a slick of lip balm in the extreme New York weather and she was good to go. Finn realised after a few months that she didn’t even own a mirror. She made no effort at all and yet looked amazing. 

The next few months were magical for both of them, sharing the apartment and their lives. If Lizzie heard the door when Finn came home she would run and jump into his arms nearly knocking him over with the force of her love for him. Compared to Lizzie, Finn was huge.  
“You’re like a giant. But I feel safe with you.”

\-----------------

In the back of the cab, Finn was so lost in remembering his first encounter with Lizzie, he was surprised to look up and find they’d reached his apartment block.  
“Lizzie? Where are you?” Finn smiled and shook his head. “Stupid question.” He said to himself under his breath.  
“Where do you think?” She was lying on her stomach facing him as he opened the door of their bedroom, still naked except for his glasses perched on the end of her nose.  
“Hey.” He joined her on the bed and playfully bit her butt.  
“Ow!” She giggled as he turned her over and wasted no time finding her clit with his tongue. “You’re too damned good at this. How did I manage without your tongue for a whole year.” She groaned. Finn kept her on the edge for what seemed like a day until she gave him the usual ‘hurry up’ signal – her nails dug into his shoulders and he got her there.

“Mmm. Well that was some celebration.” Lizzie sighed. “Right, well I’m done, so you can just go back to work now.” She teased as she shooed him away and tried to get off the bed.  
“Oh no you don’t.” Finn grabbed her ankles and pulled her back while she squealed with pleasure.  
“Are you going to take advantage of me - we’re not married any more …..”  
“Yes I am. Probably more than once.”  
“Oh!” She gasped as she felt his cock. His hands held her knees up high so he could go deep inside and pin her to the bed. “Oh god Finn.” She groaned as she gripped him tight.  
“So are you going to tell me about this job?”  
“What NOW?!”  
“Yes now, it’ll save time, I’ve got to go back to court.” He was joking but she played along.  
“Well it’s 5 bedrooms so… oh god … you know it will … oh … be a lot of curtains … Finn oh … and cushions … ooo. Fuck it! I’ll tell you later.”

Afterwards Lizzie looked in the fridge for food and returned to bed with what she found.  
“There’s some leftover Chinese food and that’s it.”  
Finn smiled. “I’ll pick up something on my way home.”  
She never had got the hang of cooking and shopping for food. She didn’t have to. Finn always sorted it. One of the 101 things he did to make their life go smoothly. He sorted the cooking, most of the shopping, opening jars that were stuck, removing the spiders that sent Lizzie shrieking around the room, shutting the cupboard doors that she always left open, lifting her up so she could reach the high shelves, bringing her coffee every morning to wake her up and a glass of water by the bed each night, picking up her wet towels off the floor of the bathroom and her clothes off the floor of the bedroom. Just a few of the things he did for her without complaint. He loved looking after her – for him it was worth it. It left her free to love him and Patrick.

Food in bed was one of the joys of their relationship. They sloshed sweet and sour sauce in their chosen cartons. Finn accidently splashed Lizzie’s thigh and absentmindedly licked it off. They automatically exchanged half eaten pancake rolls. “Have some duck.” “This one’s veggie I think.” Dipping the food in the sauce. Kissing between mouthfuls.  
“Have you been busy this morning?”  
“Not really. I went to see Alicia and then I got your text straight after.”  
“How did it go? Was she very upset with you?”  
“Let’s talk about it later. I’ve only got a couple of hours before I’m in court - I want to concentrate on you.”  
“Suits me.”

They put the food cartons on the floor and Finn lay back on the pillow pulling Lizzie into his arms so they were facing each other.  
“I love you.”  
“You took your time. I love you too.”  
He squeezed her close. “Hey on the way home I was remembering when we first met.”  
“Mmm. I’ll never forget that.”  
“Neither will I! You may have been young, but you sure had no inhibitions about sex. I thought you were trying to kill me!”  
“Well I had to make sure I’d see you again.” She explained.  
“But I could have just been some old guy who would use you for sex and then leave you.”  
“You would never have done that to me, you’re too kind.”  
“How could you possibly have known that for sure when we’d only just met?”  
“No one who smiled like that could do anything bad. Anyway the sex was yummy. It was so good to be with someone who knew exactly what they were doing after all those kids I’d slept with. And of course there was …. your tongue.” She giggled and kissed him with her tongue deep in his mouth to feel his.  
“Sometimes I think you just want me for my tongue. You don’t really need the rest of me.”  
“I need all of you. I need all of you now.”  
“You got me baby! I’m due in court in 2 hours so I need to leave by 12.30.” He left at 1.30 and just made it. 

When they were snuggled on the sofa that night, Lizzie raised the subject of Alicia again.  
“So come on, you were going to tell me how it went with Alicia. Was she upset?”  
“No I think she understood.”  
“Finn, you didn’t have to. You know I trust you.”  
“I know but it didn’t feel right.”

Finn had been open with Lizzie about Alicia. They didn’t bother with secrets, that just wasn’t how they were. They had discussed it quite soon after she came back to him.

Before Finn eventually told Alicia that he was seeing Lizzie again, his happiness was barely contained. But he still caught himself flirting and he found it inexplicable, ridiculous. Lizzie was always at home just waiting to make love with him, so he didn’t understand why he was still flirting with Alicia. When Alicia raised the idea of working together he wasn’t sure it was good idea until he talked it over with Lizzie. She surprised him by understanding completely.  
“Look I do understand what it’s like. You start off being a certain way with someone and it’s difficult to break the habit. Like us – I started off being smart and sassy with you but really I’m a timid, shy, bundle of nerves.”  
“Yeah right.” He scoffed.  
“OK well bad example. But after the initial shock of how you met, you fell into flirting and that’s difficult to stop. How does she feel about it?”  
“I … I don’t honestly know. I guess if she had wanted something to happen it would have by now.”  
“But if you want to work with her, don’t refuse because of me. Why don’t you try working with her and see how it goes? Just be honest with her Finn. Don’t inadvertently lead her on and hurt her.”  
“When did you get so grown up and wise?”  
“Since I started hanging around with you!”

Then in the car outside Holman Square, Finn came clean with Alicia. After that working with her was fine for a few days until he found himself flirting again.  
“Why am I doing this?” He had said to Lizzie as soon as got through the door and explained. He decided to make a clean break and that had led him to Alicia’s door that morning. 

 

The next day when Finn arrived home, Lizzie was sat at her makeshift drawing board in the hall of his apartment. The earphones of her I Pod in, making her deaf to his arrival. The sweater was his. She had stolen it and pulled it out of shape until it fell off her shoulders - red hair spilling over her bare shoulders – just waiting to be kissed. The shorts were his as well, faded and fraying at the edges.

“Yes! Got it!” Lizzie spun round in her chair with delight and her face lit up when she saw Finn.  
“Perfect timing. What do you think of these for covering the sofas? Which one do you think?”  
“You’re asking me? You’re the designer.”  
“Oh come on – the client’s a single man - you’re a man – you are my expert witness.”  
“That one.” He pointed without looking.  
She gave him an impressed nod. “Mmm. Surprisingly good choice!” 

“Please tell me you didn’t wear these clothes to drop off Patrick.” He brushed the hair off her shoulders and kissed the back of her neck.  
“Why? What’s wrong with my, er, your, clothes?”  
He raised his eyebrows and she relented. “No! I wore jeans and a shirt. Perfectly respectable I promise.”  
“Better. Bra?” He felt her braless breasts through the sweater.  
“Nah! I like to give the school gate fathers a thrill.”  
He smiled and shook his head. “Well that explains the ‘looks’ I get from the other fathers!” The looks of grudging respect, like he had somehow won life’s lottery with his young vivacious wife. Their wives and partners looked like they had an entourage of stylists at home. The morning drop off was like a high end fashion parade. But it was Lizzie the men looked at. Her beauty was effortless. She would breeze into their lives each morning in a simple t shirt and jeans, not a scrap of make up and always looking like she had just got out of a warm bed. 

Lizzie knew all about ‘looks’ from the other parents. The looks from the lustful fathers and the occasional pathetic attempt at a pass. The mothers were more direct. At first they thought that Lizzie was Finn’s family nanny.  
“How do manage to work for him without checking him out? He’s adorable.”  
“Thanks. I’ll tell him.” She was met with horrified looks. “He’s my husband, Patrick is my son. And yes, he is adorable.” She _did_ tell Finn, who rather than being pleased, was mortified.

The other women were all older, they had waited for motherhood – when they were financially stable, when they were higher up the career ladder, when their husbands’ started to stray and a baby was the nuclear option. Things had been different for Lizzie. One missed pill and bang – pregnant at 21. When the news spread that she was married to the tall, dark and handsome lawyer who was clearly a wonderful father to Patrick, she got looks like they were daggers. Yes, she knew all about those looks.

“Where is Patrick by the way?”  
“Ethan’s. Sarah’s going to drop him back later.”  
“How much later?”  
“7”  
“Excellent.” Finn gave her a wicked grin and wheeled her on the chair away from her desk and through to the bedroom, tipping her off onto the bed.  
“Finn, I have to work.”  
“Later.” He pulled off the sweater and shorts as she did the same with his clothes. “No panties either? Seriously Lizzie?” She shrugged, caught out. 

Their kisses were a frenzy of sucking, biting and tongues tangling. The usual wrestling for dominance ensued. Finn pretended to be beaten for the sake of the spectacular sight of his love totally losing it as she moved on top of him. She always started slowly, moaning with each move, circling with her hips, panting as she increased her speed with his hands stroking her breasts or gripping onto her butt. His finger on her clit always got her there quickly and then he took over to finish. They had a few rounds of ‘wrestling’ to win their favourite positions. Lizzie loved any position where she was on top BUT secretly she delighted in the feeling of Finn on top of her – the weight of him for that moment when he came and briefly slumped before rolling off onto his back. He loved ANY position, but if he could see or touch her breasts that was the frosting on the cake for Finn.  
Lizzie sighed. “Oh god. If only the school yard mothers knew about how good our sex life is. They’d scratch my eyes out!”

When Finn walked back through the hall from the bathroom he looked at the workspace that Lizzie had made – swatches piled on top of catalogues piled on top of books.  
“This is ridiculous. You can’t carry on working like this. We need a bigger apartment. You need a studio with some light for a start, like we had in New York.”  
“Can we afford it?”  
“The lease on your New York place is up next month. Do we need to keep it?” He was more anxious about asking the question than he cared to admit. He had kept paying for Lizzie’s apartment, it was her way out if she needed it.  
“No. I don’t need it anymore.” She was definite and he was relieved. "We could sub let?”  
“Or let it go? I suppose the biggest decision is whether we stay in Chicago or go back to New York. What do you think?”  
She thought about it. “I vote Chicago. I like it here. I don’t miss New York like I thought I would. Patrick is happy in school. Business is going well. I know you and James don’t get on but Jo has been good to me and I’ve got other friends.”  
“Just don’t expect me to play nice with Castro.”  
“I know. But it’s a fresh start for us both.”  
“OK then, a bigger place in Chicago it is.”  
Lizzie threw her arms around Finn’s neck and smacked a kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

The new apartment was spacious and the smallest room was set up as a studio. They built a desk and some shelves for Lizzie’s books and a professional drawing board fitted with space to spare. Because they were on the ground floor they even had a small garden. Lizzie and Patrick planted flowers and vegetables and Finn perfected his BBQ skills when friends came to visit. 

Their lives settled into a happy routine. Their day started with kisses and cuddles at least or sex if there was time. Finn would go to work early after having breakfast with Lizzie and Patrick. She would put ‘proper’ clothes on to drop off Patrick at school and then spend the day in her studio or with clients. Finn was home early when he could, to be with Lizzie before they picked up Patrick together. Working long hours was a thing of the past after Lizzie put her foot down.  
“You work too hard. We can manage on less. I need you here.”  
He thought about it for a minute. “You’re right. I don’t want more money, I want more of you.”

After that if Finn ever dared to bring work home Lizzie would quietly take off her (his) shorts and slowly lift her (his) t shirt to give him a view of what he was missing.  
“Fin-ley?”  
He would peer over his glasses with a smirk. “Are you flashing at me?”  
“Maybe.”  
He would pull a face and give her a 'look', “You bad girl”, and papers would be flying, the laptop would be perilously close to dropping on the floor and glasses flung across the room as he dashed to reach her and dive between her legs. 

Before they picked up Patrick, there was time to talk uninterrupted by the stream of questions he always had about everything. The bed was their meeting place – talking over their day, the future, Patrick, plans for the weekend. Finn would sit with Lizzie’s head in his lap, curling her hair around his fingers as they talked. Lizzie would massage the tension in Finn’s neck and back.  
“Ironing out the creases.” She called it.  
“Are you saying I’ve got wrinkles?”

This was also the usual time when Lizzie would say, “Fin-ley?”, in the way she always did when she wanted something from him.  
“Elizzzabeth – just ask me.” 

Finn loved to surprise Lizzie when he came home, which was easy with her I pod always plugged into her ears as she worked. He would sneak up behind her to kiss her neck and slip his hands inside her top onto her breasts if she was sitting at her drawing board.  
“I really hope that’s you Finn and not some pervert. Oh wait - I was right the second time!”  
Finding her in the kitchen was his favourite, sliding a hand up inside her thighs.  
“Mmm – who is that?”  
“You know.” He said as he unzipped his trousers and eased inside her.  
“Oh yeah. Now I know who you are.” She giggled as he bent her over the kitchen counter. Because Patrick wasn’t home they could be as noisy as they liked, although the neighbours did ask them to tone it down one afternoon.

Finn’s happiness was complete until one night when Lizzie was snuggled up to him in bed.  
“Fin-ley?”  
“Elizzzabeth.” He mocked the tone of her voice that he knew so well.  
“I was wondering how you would feel if I came off the pill?”  
A knot formed in his stomach and a deep furrow appeared on his brow.  
“Lizzie are you sure? After everything that happened?”  
“Yes. I am. We’re stronger now. We’ve learned from it I hope. We’re solid aren’t we?”  
“Yes, but we were solid before…”  
“What do you think?”  
“Honestly – I’d be scared that it would happen all over again and it would destroy us.”  
“It scares me too but ... I just feel ready to try again.”  
“Then I think – let’s do it. But on one condition. If it happens, it happens – no ovulation charts, no quack doctors, no stress.”  
“Deal.”  
“So when did you stop taking the pill then?”  
“Finn! I swear I have been taking it right up to today. In fact I’ll prove it.”  
“No you don’t have to. I believe you.” She produced the packet of pills from the bedside table anyway. He didn’t bother to look. He just tossed them in the bin. “Let’s get practising then.”  


\------------------

Getting pregnant the first time had been easy. It was Finn who had noticed that their regular monthly sessions of sex in the shower or on thick towels on the bed were gone from their lives. The doctor confirmed it. Lizzie was overjoyed. Finn’s heart wanted the baby but his head wasn’t so sure.  
“Are you sure this is what you want?”  
“What – having a baby with the man I love? Of course it’s what I want.”  
“Lizzie you’re still young. Don’t you want to do stuff – get your career going, travel.”  
“Why can’t I do all that with a baby?”  
“If you have this baby you are stuck – stuck with me in your life forever.”  
Lizzie looked at him like he was insane. “So what exactly is the problem with that? I want to be stuck with you.”  
“One day you might wake up and think, 'who is this old guy I’m saddled with!' I’m 12 years older than you, that’s a lifetime – if you’re 12 years old!”  
“Argh! You are ridiculous. It’s 11 years anyway.” She groaned. “You just don’t get it do you?! I fucking love you, I adore you and that is not going to change! So do you want this baby with me or not?!”  
“Yes.” He took her into his arms. “Yes, I want this baby more than anything.”  
“Well then we’re both happy.” 

Lizzie breezed through the pregnancy, the birth and being a mother. She combined motherhood with setting up as an interior designer. “Cushions and curtains.” Finn paid for courses to help her do it properly otherwise he feared the tax department would be dragging her off to jail. 

Finn would come home to find Lizzie at her drawing board with Patrick sat on her knee. The baby usually wore little more than a diaper. “Clothes are futile when you are 3 months old!” Otherwise he would be tucked inside Finn’s old sweater that she wore to hold him to her breast. Finn could watch her cooing and smiling at Patrick for hours and never be bored. 

They did manage to travel, together. They went to far-flung places in America, Mexico, and even travelled around Europe with the baby strapped to one or other of them. 

They had four blissful years and then one day,  
“Fin-ley?”  
“Yes Elizzzabeth?” And they were off the pill and shagging like rabbits – for months – nothing.  
“My sperm is obviously too old!” He joked, hoping it wasn’t true. Their lives were taken over by temperature taking, optimum diets for conceiving, Lizzie standing on her head after sex, doctors telling them everything was fine, there was no reason they couldn’t have another baby. Finn went along with it all – and hated it. He missed the spontaneity that had been one of the pleasures of their relationship, but he did it all to make her happy. He would have done anything to give her what she wanted. 

Eventually it happened and they became pregnant for a second time. But the second time was different. The second time broke them. They were both happy until, with a month to go, Lizzie was doubled up with pain when Finn came home one day. She had already called an ambulance. In the hospital they were told that their longed for baby was dead. Lizzie had to endure delivering their daughter knowing what the awful truth was. The baby was wrapped and handed to Lizzie and they spent a few hours with her before they said goodbye. 

Finn watched helpless as his beautiful, funny, loving wife died too. She just disappeared. Her body was still present but the life in her was gone and he couldn’t reach her no matter how hard he tried. They drifted around the house aimlessly, trying to go through the motions for Patrick.

Then James Castro rang from Chicago and the ASA job was suggested. He needed someone he could trust. It meant a drop in salary for Finn but the opportunity for them all to make a fresh start.  
“Finn, I love you but every time I look at you I remember what happened. I don’t want to remember what happened. I’m not coming with you.”

Finn left without protest, without fighting to keep his wife and son.  
“I know you need time. You know where I’ll be.”  
It broke his heart to leave her but it was her choice and he would have done anything to help her get through the loss of the baby – even that. One more of the 101 things he did to show her he loved her.

Living in Chicago without his son and the wife that had lit up his life, Finn had fixated on Alicia. Alicia was older, but still messy and also grieving for a lost love. Her grief over losing Will was somehow easier for him to deal with. Maybe he couldn’t save Lizzie but could he save Alicia? The flirting distracted him from what was really going on in his life.

Sometimes Finn wondered what he would do if Alicia called his bluff and had said “Let’s stop playing and just do it.” He honestly didn’t know what he would have done. If he’d slept with Alicia he would have hated himself for ‘cheating’ on Lizzie. 

Lizzie on the other hand saw no-one. Finn had been her life, yet she hardly noticed he had gone, she was so consumed by her grief. Then one day she bumped into Clare, a woman from their birthing support group. When Clare heard that Lizzie’s super supportive and loving husband had been asked to leave, she was convinced that this was serious. He was the man that everyone in the group compared their own partners to and found them wanting. If Finn had failed to get through to his wife it was time for drastic action. Clare physically dragged Lizzie out of the house one day and took her to see a grief counsellor. The clouds started to lift but then another hole in Lizzie’s life was revealed. A large, Finn shaped, hole, but this one she could do something about. So she packed up herself and Patrick and went to Chicago to get him back.

So one day, out of the blue, Lizzie had turned up in Finn’s office in Chicago. He peered over his glasses at her, not quite believing what he was seeing.  
“How can you see that screen with those glasses? They’re filthy.”  
She had taken them from his nose, breathed heavily on them and wiped them with her T shirt, his T shirt. _“No bra.”_  
She smiled at him knowing exactly what he was thinking. She bit her lip.  
“I can’t do it without you.”  
He didn't understand. “Do what?”  
“Life.”  
“Come here.”  
She rushed to him, sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck and kissed him.  
“I love you so much. I’m sorry I pushed you away.”  
“It doesn’t matter. None of that matters now.”

Finn had managed to hold it together just long enough to check where Patrick was (at a friend’s), drive them to his apartment, and reach the bed. But then it all came out. He buried his face into Lizzie’s body and wept uncontrollably. He had not allowed himself time to grieve for his daughter – he had been too focussed on Lizzie’s grief. Most of all he hadn’t allowed himself to grieve for the loss of his wife. He had endured a year without her, with only brief tearful phone calls and tiny glimpses of the red curls when Lizzie’s mother got out of the car to ‘handover’ Patrick for weekends or holidays. Now all of that hurt gushed out of him in a torrent of sobbing.

Lizzie held him tight, stroking, kissing, telling him over and over, “I’m so sorry,” “I don’t ever want to be apart from you again,” “It’s OK now,” “We’re going to be OK, I promise” and “I love you.” After a while he was calm and they talked for hours and then made love for hours. A year to catch up on.

\------------

“Alicia! Hey.”  
“Finn – oh my god. Long time no see. How are you?”  
“Good thanks, great actually.” His smile was proof of it.  
“Time for a coffee?”  
“Yes why not.”  
“How about you? I heard you got a new partner!”  
“Yeah, well – that’s an interesting experience. The major news is that I’m finally getting a divorce. I can’t keep up the pretence any more. The presidential campaign was the last straw, I just couldn’t. And … I met someone.”  
“Good for you. Are you happy?”  
“Yes, yes I am. How’s it going with your wife – you seem happy as well.”  
That smile again, dying to share the news but reluctant to brag. It just sort of burst out anyway in his excitement.  
“Lizzie’s pregnant – with TWINS!”  
“Oh my god Finn! That’s fantastic.”  
“Yeah it’s pretty great. Scary, but great. I’ve got twins in my family but we never expected it so I’m a bit shell-shocked. Lizzie’s loving it all and she and the babies are fine.”  
“I’m so pleased for you Finn.”  
“Yeah, thanks. I’m pleased you found someone too.” He phone beeped. “Oh shit. I have to go to some baby prep’ thing we go to.” He rolled his eyes and pulled a face. “We all sit round crossed legged in a circle and feel our 'inner parent'!”  
Alicia laughed. “I really cannot imagine you doing that!”  
“It’s Lizzie, she’s, well she’s just Lizzie. To be honest we go along so we can bitch about the other couples when we leave.”  
“I’m glad it’s working out for you.”  
“Thanks – it is. I hope it works out with your new guy too. Take care Alicia.”

 

The ear-piercing scream woke Finn up.  
“I’ll go, before they wake up Patrick.”  
“My hero.” Lizzie groaned from under the duvet. “How can something so small be SO loud.”  
“I’ve got it.” He kissed her exposed shoulder and went to settle the babies. “Hey there my petit pois, Daddy’s here.” ‘Two peas in a pod’ was his joke when they found out Lizzie was pregnant with twins and it stuck when they decided on the names. Phoebe and Piers lungs produced sound that could shatter glass. “Come and have cuddle.” He picked them both up in his big hands and sat on the sofa cradling one in each arm.  
“You need three arms – I’ll get jealous! Here give me one and then we can cuddle as well.” Lizzie had followed him into the nursery. They all snuggled up on the sofa until the babies calmed down. “This is so damned hard isn’t it? Two at once.”  
“Yep – a living hell. I had NO idea!” He sighed and rolled his eyes.  
“I wouldn’t swap it for anything though.”  
“Me neither. I’ve never been happier. It’ll get easier when they 30.”

 

“Fin-ley?”  
“Elizzzabeth – no we are not having another baby! Not yet anyway.”  
“Oh shame. Actually I wasn’t going to ask that.”  
“What then?”  
“Will you marry me? Again?”

\-------------

Lizzie had been the one to ask the first time around as well.  
“Fin-ley? Now you’ve got me knocked up, maybe we ought to get married?”  
“You’re kidding!”  
“I’m not, I’m really not. Do you remember when we first spent the night together I said I was glad I met you _‘at last’_.”  
“Did you? I forget. I’m very old you know!”  
“I told you that I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you, the first time you smiled at me in fact. I may be only 21 but I kissed a lot of frogs before I met you! I knew I’d met the man I would spend the rest of my life with – at last.”  
“You knew all that from one smile?”  
“But it was a really _great_ smile! I just want to be with you forever – the baby has nothing to do with it really. Because I’ve never loved anyone like this and now you seem to have gotten round to loving me.”  
“Gotten round to it? I think I fell in love with you when had our first drink together but I was afraid I’d scare you off if I said anything too soon.”  
“Really? You really mean that.”  
“Yes I do and I would love to be your husband. Lets do it. Let’s get married.”

Their first wedding had been mad. Finn in his work suit, Lizzie in his best t-shirt (well it was special occasion) and jeans held together by a belt. Two strangers off the street had been their witnesses and the clerk who married them was a little drunk. They were never really sure if they were legally married. Still they got the piece of paper and had an impromptu honeymoon in Mexico. After the first few days spent on the toilet their stomachs settled and their marriage began. 

The hardest thing they had to do when they got home was to convince their friends and families that they hadn’t gone crazy and got married as a result of some psychotic episode. In time their families were convinced that this was more than a fling that got out of hand. This was real. One by one people got on board with the idea and when Patrick arrived – that sealed the deal. 

Their second wedding was also mad. They married again 10 years exactly since the day they first met. Patrick was the proud Best Man. Finn and Lizzie held a twin each and right on cue the ceremony ended with a loud filling of diapers in perfect unison. Finn wore the suit Lizzie loved him in best. “Boring brown.” He called it. “Chocolate”, was her verdict. No tie, top buttons undone – just how she liked him, slightly undone. Finn was expecting her to turn up in his t-shirt and boxers, but no, Lizzie found a dress from a vintage shop and it fitted like it had been made for her. She kept it a surprise for him until the last second because she covered up in his old raincoat. When he saw the raincoat he expected the worst, or best on any other occasion, that she would be naked underneath! 

Their wild celtic families were all there. Even cousins they didn’t really know they had. Half of Ireland and Scotland descended on the marriage hall and the party afterwards. Everyone came this time. Everyone. Even Alicia. She came with her new man Daniel. Finn had bumped into them in a bar a month before and invited them.  
“You must come. Lizzie would love to meet you both.”  
So Alicia came. She wanted to meet the woman who Finn had ‘left’ her for. She was happy with her man but she was still curious. 

Alicia had not known what to expect, but she sure didn’t expect Lizzie – a stunningly beautiful whirlwind of smiles and red curls who was gloriously happy and welcoming. She was infectious. Before long Alicia and Daniel were holding a twin each not knowing quite what had hit them. Lizzie had pressed them to come for dinner. “Don’t worry Finn does all the cooking!” and she was commissioned to decorate Alicia and Daniel’s new apartment. There were no hard feelings, no regrets – just shared joy. 

When Lizzie got up to dance, Alicia looked at Finn, a man she thought she had known well. Clearly not. He had chosen the most unlikely match and somehow made it work. They were so absolutely in love, so right for each other.  
“She’s….” Alicia didn’t get a chance to finish.  
Finn shook his head and smiled happily. “Yeah I know – a force of nature!”  
“I was going to say ‘amazing’. Life must be pretty interesting.”  
“That it is. It’s full on but quite honestly she keeps me sane and happy, so happy.” He looked proudly at his wife dancing with his father. “Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go and rescue my dad before she gives him a heart attack! Are you two OK with the babies for a while?”  
Finn got up and then turned back like he’d forgotten something. He looked down at Alicia. “I guess we both got sorted in the end didn’t we?”  
Alicia smiled up at her happy friend, she knew exactly what he was talking about.  
“Yes. Yes we did.” 

The wedding was different but their honeymoon was a nostalgic trip to Mexico, although they avoided the stomach bugs this time. The children went to Lizzie’s sister’s which left them free for a week of laughter, talking and sex. Lots of sex.

 

Finn sat beside Patrick and they read a bedtime story together before he said goodnight. He looked in on Lizzie as she settled down the twins. They were quiet for once.  
“Won’t be long.” She mouthed at him.  
He sat on the bed reading while Lizzie checked on Patrick. 

“All OK?”  
“More than OK.” Lizzie smiled as she joined Finn on the bed. She looked at him and tutted. “Give me those.” She carefully removed his glasses to clean them and the world was a blur for Finn. She gently settled them back on his nose. And there she was, he could see her clearly now, wearing his faded clothes as usual, no bra, probably no other underwear either, red curls falling over her shoulders and the look in her eyes that guaranteed he was about to get a good time. “What?”  
“Nothing. I just love you.”  
There she was – Finn’s loving, caring, beautiful and slightly bonkers wife. His wild Scottish maiden. The love of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought this story would get Finn out of my system but no - there is one more F & A smut fest to come. xxx


End file.
